4Word Prompt: How Each Was Part of Her
by Waifine
Summary: [TMNT 2012] April reminisces on her relationship to each one of her boys. How each one of them is a part of her. Together, they are her heart, mind, soul and body. They are what make her whole.


4Word Prompt: **How Each Was Part of Her.**

_Four things made up a person. April knew that. The heart, the mind, the soul and the body. Without any single one of them how could a person even consider himself to be alive? Or at least without the first three. Sure, one could 'function'… She'd seen plenty of people 'functioning' whom she was convinced were entirely heartless, mindless, and soulless. But to be truly alive? To be truly 'there'… no. She couldn't imagine it. Just as she couldn't imagine going back to a time before she knew the turtles. Her boys. But that wasn't all of it. Not at all. Though, it had taken her a bit of a while to figure that out, which was stupid, really, because the very existence of the turtles should have been proof enough that all was not as it first appeared. It was true that heart, mind, soul and body were all essentials to one's humanity. But the nature of those essentials was another matter entirely. _

**Heart:** It should have been Michelangelo. He was the most heartfelt, eager, and warm person April had ever met. And she had only ever heard _stories_ of how he had gained the trust and loyalty of the creature that they all called Leather Head! But it wasn't Mikey. No. ….Not with the way that Donnie fixed his eyes on her. It was annoying sometimes. And a little overbearing at others. But sometimes it was actually really sweet. After all, what could one do in the face of so much raw affection? Donnie cared in an adoring, protective, geeky sort of way. Sometimes April took out her T-phone just remember how he always insisted on updating it with the latest tech each time she visited the lair. And if he also took it as an opportunity to check whom she'd been texting, well… they still needed to have a talk about that.

**Mind:** It should have been Donatello. And, but for the fact of how those keen, intelligent eyes just fogged over every time he looked at her, it would have been. But that did not seem to be changing any time soon. There was, however, one member of the team whose eyes never lost their flint. One member who was never off his guard. Leonardo had become the security in April's life. She knew that, no matter what they were facing, and no matter whom, Leonardo would steer them straight. It had been the only thing that kept her calm when her father had been abducted by the Krang. When they were surrounded, or outnumbered, she would just look to Leonardo… and watch as those keen eyes flited across the field, his mind going a thousand miles a second. He was the leader. He kept them all safe. With his mind he kept them all alive.

**Soul:** It should have been Leonardo. That spirit which could never be broken. That final burst of strength when the battle was almost lost which always screamed _'never say die!'_ But it wasn't. Not really. Not in those months when she would traipse into the lair from the sewers, the rain weighing down her raincoat, and her father still missing or, later mutated. No, in those moments the arms that would wrap around her and the warmth that would envelope her… was Mikey's. Not with the pity or concern that the others threw at her. No. It was just that Mickey had so much of himself to _give._ He could share all of him as though he had so much to spare. His food, his games, his warmth. All that, and so much more, as though he would never run out. And, really, on those evening that April would fall asleep with her head resting against his shell, the light of the videogames blurring together behind her eyelids, she really believed that he never, ever would.

**Body:** Everyone had a body. Even the heartless, the mindless and the soulless had bodies. Raphael was exactly that. He was exactly as he appeared to be. Not heart, not mind, and not soul. He was rude, and stocky and muscular. He was the force behind the team. And, when he fixed those harsh green eyes on her, and when her gaze trailed over that large crack in his plastron, April could not deny that she was a little intimidated by him. He was powerful and present. Because of this it was with Raph that April had the least interaction. –Until she was captured by the Krang and strapped down to that table. Until she saw that short body of his rammed to the ground and pinned there by so many Krang robots, and those green eyes stare at her in wild fear and desperation. Until he tore across the room to her, and tore off her restraints and gently, oh so gently, pulled her from that table. Her knees were weak, and she buckled into him, and he responded as though he was her own form, taking the weight she could not hold herself. He held her, and braced her, and she fell into him completely. She had been wrong. Not everyone had this. This strength, this support and this care. April knew then that he _was_ in fact all body, but not as she had understood it. She knew then that there was nothing in the world that could compel him to drop her. In him her trust was absolute.

_Heart, Mind, Soul and Body. Donnie, the gentle touch on her shoulder which reminded her, in this world of hatred, to never abandon human affection. Leo, whose intelligence and readiness for action was the inspiration to her to never give up on herself, or her own capabilities. Mikey… who was so much the person she hoped one day to be, so much larger than life and larger than the frame that held him. Raph, who was her best friend, her final protector, and the force she trusted as she trusted her own instincts. April could not imagine how she had lived without them before. The only thing she could be certain of was that she would never be able to live without them again. They were each a part of her. They four together made her whole. _

**…**

**Author Note: I just wanted to write a short story exploring the relationships that April has to each of the turtles. I really think that it's a shame she only ever spends time with Donatello in the series. Ergo, this is my take on the interactions which we do not see.**


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